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Selection Effects Against Small Comets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

H.A. Zook ,
J.A. Fernández  and
E. Grün
H.A. Zook
Affiliation:
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77058, USA
J.A. Fernández
Affiliation:
Observatorio do Valongo, U.F.R.J. Ladiera Pedro Antonio, 43, 20.080-Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
E. Grün
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Postfach 10 39 80, 6900 Heidelberg, F.R.G.

Abstract

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There are three factors that inhibit detecting small comets relative to large comets: 1. They must pass closer to the Earth than large comets to be detected. 2. The resulting higher angular velocity for nearby comets means that, at comparable apparent magnitudes, there is less time available to discover a small comet relative to a large comet. 3. Small comets physically decay and vanish faster than do large comets. With these three factors, it can be shown that if the small comet input distribution gi (Rn) in varies as , where Rn is the nuclear radius of the comet, then the observed distribution will vary as

Type
V. Relationships to Comets and Meteoroids
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 85: Properties and Interactions of Interplanetary Dust , 1985 , pp. 287 - 291
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1985

References

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